Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up: Birthday Boy

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized19 Comments

Hello everyone! It is a sunshiney morning here today, although we do have some severe weather on the radar for tonight. We are also having Mermaid Girl over tonight! She is coming for dinner and then we are going to hang out – I am going to teach her embroidery. I think she is going to come over once a week for dinner, we have missed her! We will also work on our family tree some too, per her request. I am looking forward to it.

So the big thing around here lately has been Wyatt’s birthday! Double digits for this kid! It is so hard to believe sometimes – time has flown. I feel like it was yesterday he was born. I am planning to share our story about his birth this month. It just feels time, and maybe it will help someone who stumbles on my blog. March is also cerebral palsy awareness month, so it is all sort of fits.

Anyway, Wyatt turned ten Sunday! We had a celebration the three of us, and he is having a big party this weekend. We haven’t done a big party in years but we felt like we needed to this year, for many reasons. I am all nervous about it but it will be ok. However, Sunday was a blast! We had a slow morning, Wyatt opened a few little gifts (he is my kid – his favorite was the scented markers), and then around noonish we rolled out. We had a big day planned! We had originally planned to go to the zoo, but the temps stayed solidly in the teens, so we pivoted.

First stop, the Detroit Dye House! This is a tie dye place in Detroit, and my friend Kelly goes here all the time and has told me over and over to take Wyatt. Well, we did on Sunday. We did the drop in sessions, instead of a class, and it was so fun. The woman working was sweet and nice too – she explained what we needed to do, made sure the tub was low enough for Wyatt, and then it was time to begin!

That place was really cool. I want to go back and make something myself! They have a lot of different things to make, from tshirts to scarves to wraps to headbands. If you take a class, then you also make a pair of socks, that the Dye House provides, and then they donate the socks to the unhoused population in Detroit. They are having a peace sign design class in April that I want to go to. I want a headband and I don’t know what else.

Wyatt had a great time doing this, and so did Billy and I. He chose a spiral design because it reminded him of a snail. Of course.

After we finished here and had our saturated and wet shirt safely stowed in a special bag to take home with us, we headed to our next stop. We were all a little peckish so we stopped in at Mexicantown Bakery to choose a little something. Billy and I each got a ham and cheese empanada, Wyatt chose an M&M cookie, and then we picked up a few extras for the next day while we were at it. That big gigundo cookie tasted like a churro and was delicious! We ate it over the last few days.

We had reservations for an early dinner but we still had a few hours before it was time to go there, so we went to an old favorite – Belle Isle. And we hit all the attractions! They are all free to the public, so we just made our way around the island stopping at them all. It was a really fun way to spend those few hours!

We explored the Conservatory, which has recently reopened after being updated and restored, the Aquarium (the oldest one in the United States!). It was so refreshing to see all the green plants, and even the citrus trees with their oranges and lemons. It was jam packed in the conservatory since it recently reopened, and everyone is flocking there so we sort of were in the shuffle along and look mode with everyone there. but it was still nice. The aquarium was busy but not as full so that was a little better. They had a scavenger hunt for kids and at the end Wyatt got to pick a sticker. He chose an otter and then wanted me to wear it so I did.

After we visited these two, we went through the recently redone Nature Center. They have been doing a lot of work on the island and it shows. The nature center looks really cool! I actually didn’t get any pictures here, we were just busy looking around and playing with the exhibits.

By the time we left here, it was time to go to our reservation at JoJo’s Shake Bar, near Comerica. I was super excited about this place. It looked like it was going to be an awesome place for a kid, full of music and big giant shakes! I was so glad that we had made reservations, even at such an early time (4:00) because it was PACKED! Like literally parents and kids and strollers everywhere, out the door, inside… it was a bit overwhelming for me, who gets a bit of sensory overload! However, I knew that Wyatt was going to love it. And he did! Everything there was huge – the sandwiches, the shakes, the drinks – it was crazy. It is a bit pricey, but since everything was giant and we knew that we were all splitting a giant shake for dessert, Billy and I split a sandwich and Wyatt got a grilled cheese and fries. Billy and I split the Clevelander and it was freaking awesome! We also sort of shared an adult beverage. It was mostly mine though as he was driving. I saw it on the menu and I had to order it, out of nostalgia for the name. The Blueberry “Gin and Juice.” This place is crazy y’all. It is kid friendly but also, has drinks. It was also huge so I was nervous to drink it all, so I only drank about half, with Billy taking a few sips. It was delicious.

Then the grand finale! The shake, the whole reason I chose JoJo’s. Wyatt chose the Birthday shake, of course. This thing had a huge full size cookie, a giant cake ball, and cotton candy, in addition to cotton candy (he was not a fan). Even with the three of us sharing it (Billy again only having a bite or two) we couldn’t complete it, and we took the cookie and cake ball home, minus a few bites from Wyatt. It was fantastic though.

After this totally hedonistic type meal, we finally headed home. And we were all ready for it. We were exhausted by the time we rolled through the door! We all sort of found our little places in the den and decompressed. Wyatt was quietly drawing with his new markers, and Billy and I vegged on our phones. It was a very full, very fun day, in celebration of our little guy – who I guess is now a bit bigger guy.

And that is part one of Wyatt’s birthday story this week! Saturday is his party. Wish me luck!! Oh, I forgot to share a picture of his finished shirt! I think it looks really cool!

Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile my friends!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized35 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! Today is Wyatt’s birthday – he is a big time ten years old today! I am all sorts of emotional over this. We are going to the zoo (even though it is absolutely freezing today!) and then a special meal at a fancy shake place in Detroit.

Read Last Week(s):

These were both really good!

Reading This Week:

It’s Middle Grade March! I don’t usually do reading challenges because I am usually trash at them, with no discipline. This one is pretty simple with five prompts, and I think I can do it! Week one we are supposed to read a book by an author with three names – so I am picking Emily of New Moon! I love this cover btw. These are the prompts, in case anyone is interested!

1. Read a book by an author with 3 names
2. Read a book with flowers on the cover
3. Read a book that is part of a series
4. Read a book that involves travel
5. Read a book written in the 1900s

Posted Recently:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read and Never Reviewed

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Another Time

Down the Rabbit Hole: How My Crafternoons Led To A New TBR

Sunday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up: Tulips on the Window, Bowling, and Scouts

Mini Book Reviews: The Sad Ghost Club, Temple of Swoon, and The Honey Witch

Hello March!

Watching:

We are watching a few different things! We have been watching Murdoch Mysteries, The Great Pottery Throw Down, and we just started Dickinson. Dickinson is a fun little show, and is just silly and escapist. However, I do feel they get some of the details about Emily’s life correct, like her intimate relationship with her friend Sue, who her brother later marries. It is done in the style of the movie A Knight’s Tale, or Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes, with modern music, language, sensibilities interspersed. I am a Dickinson fan, so I hope that this show sparks interest and curiosity in young people for poetry and words and Dickinson herself, and maybe they will watch and search out more information or look for her collections of poetry.

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Hello March!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Today it is sunny and snowing – and this is so like March here in Michigan. It doesn’t know whether it is winter or spring and just throws everything at us at once.

I love March. Do I love it more than I love October? Probably, because something very special happened ten years ago in March. And as you probably have guessed, that something (someone) is Wyatt! Wyatt turns ten tomorrow! I can’t believe my tiny little peanut baby is now going to be double digits. He is growing up! I will probably be all weepy and emotional tomorrow; in fact, I guarantee it. We are going to the zoo to celebrate, because that is where we went on his first birthday together. Of course then he was in one of those babywearing carriers and in a cozy little full body bear coat thing that you tuck little kids in and he looked super adorable. He also shares a birthday with Dr. Seuss, which I think is perfect for a boy who loves books. We took him there for his birthday too, and look how giant Billy’s hand looks next to him!

March is also the birthday of three other very special children in my life – I have two cousins who had children in March, and then my brother’s youngest daughter, Hurricane, was born two years ago in March as well! Her birthday party is in a few weeks. We don’t usually do a big party for Wyatt, and after age like five I think, didn’t have a real party at all, preferring to go away for the weekend somewhere nature-ish. Last year we went to a dark sky park; the year before that we went to the wolf sanctuary. But we decided for number ten we would give the big old party. So Wyatt is having a wolf themed party at the nature center next weekend with most of his family in attendance, along with some friends as well. I am extremely nervous about getting everything perfect because I am a weirdo, and I am trying to remind myself that is not the important part.

I think March is so full of magic and wonder, don’t you? Here in Michigan, it is the turning point month usually. We have wild weather to start the month, cold and snowy somedays, warm other days. The day Wyatt was born it was the coldest day of the year, in the negative temps, and this year it is going to be 30 degrees. Other years it has been warmer – I think last year we were wearing sweatshirts and no coats up north on our trip. Spring bulbs might be starting to wiggle their way up to the surface. (and for other nature nerds, worms are as well) Birds are returning. Soon we will hear the spring peepers going crazy in the marshes and ponds, one of my favorite sounds of spring. On warmer days we might see a bee lazily bumbling around, maybe a bit confused about why she is awake. Spring ephemerals will soon be able to be spotted in the woods, adding a tiny bit of color. In short, the world here is waking up, and it always seems so magical. We are starting to emerge from our cozy winter cocoon as well.

It would be hard to ignore St. Patrick’s Day, with its leprechauns and rainbows. I love to visit the fairy tales and mythical creatures of Irish lore in March, and this year Wyatt and I are going to do a little study on them. I have books and stories lined up, from real life people like St. Patrick and Brigid, to people of myth and legend like Finn MacCool, and then scary little creatures such as pookas and water horses and banshees. I think it will be a fun little shake up for school.

It is funny because the book Wyatt and I are reading for school is a more fun book than anything else. We were supposed to be reading Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter for language arts but neither of us could get into it so I switched to one of Wyatt’s books, The Wolves of Greycoat Hall. Well anyway, this book takes place in Scotland so we are going to be learning a bit about Scotland as well.

Last year Billy and our friends and family built a ramp for Wyatt, so he can go outside into the yard and play. One of our friends convinced us to make it a little bit wider, so that he can also go outside and play on the deck itself, which we did. I am so grateful for this suggestion because Billy and I realized that without it, he would only have been able to play on the driveway as wheelchairs are not good on grass. We were so focused on the getting outside part that we neglected to think about what would happen next! Billy finished it up right as the weather was turning, so we didn’t get to get outside with him too much before it was too cold. But now with the weather turning, I am excited to get outside with him more. We have been coming up with different activities and items for him to do out there, from a basketball hoop to a mounted bow and arrow (for kids, not like real arrows, he would kill a neighbor accidentally) to a raised garden bed on legs that he can roll up to and plant things. I am excited, and I know he will be too.

I could go on and on today I think! I should probably wrap this up before it becomes a novel!

So, that being said, that is it from me today. Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile!

Mini Book Reviews: Sad Ghost Club, Temple of Swoon, and The Honey Witch

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello all! Welcome back to another edition of mini book reviews! It seems to be the best way for me to write reviews, in these little bite size reviews.

First up! The Sad Ghost Club

The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings: “The universe is most pleased we met.” You guys this book was just so good. I could relate to this so well; I was so shy and awkward in high school and had such anxiety over social things, much like these characters. This graphic novel is a very sweet look at anxiety, loneliness, feeling like you don’t belong anywhere.. it is just wonderful honestly. I am adding the rest of the series to my library holds ASAP!

Two “ghosts” meet at a party, both out of sync with the rest of the party goers, and it is a wonderful conversation between two people who have possibly found a kindred spirit. If you visit The Sad Ghost Club website, and you are in the UK, there are also helplines posted for those who are feeling like thye need a helping hand.

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura: I’m an adventurer at heart. While in reality I am an introverted stay at home homeschool mom, there was a time I dreamed of discovering lost cities and digging up relics, having all sorts of wild adventures along the way. I am glad I actually pursued that outside of daydreams, because the reality is I much prefer reading about them in climate controlled, bug free spaces. Temple of Swoon is the perfect read for armchair adventuring archaeologists like me – this book has danger, a steamy jungle, a lost city, some crazy shenanigans, and romance. I ate this book up, like Miri eats her snacks. Miri is the main character, who is smart, resilient, a bit of a goofball, and prides herself on always having the best snacks. I thought she was awesome! Rafa wasn’t too bad either…

This book is for you if you like

🥾 Enemies to lovers
🥾 Indiana Jones
🥾 Cinnamon roll MMC
🥾 Smart women

Also if you like this book I highly recommend the old classic movie, African Queen. It was also an adventure story that made me laugh out loud.

The spice level: It is explicit open door, but it is almost all the way at the very end of the book. If I compare it to Under Loch and Key, which I reviewed last round, it seems tame. I haven’t read many romances honestly so I am still working out a system. Let’s say if Under Loch and Key is 5 jalapenos, this one is 3.5?

“These are the wild women who run barefoot through the meadow, who teach new songs to birds, who howl at the moon together. Wild women are their own kind of magic.” After all of this snow and being indoors – as cozy and wonderful it has been – I am more than ready to wake up to the songs of the birds in the morning and to run around barefoot again, to see colors again! That is why I decided this long gray February of the snow moon was the perfect time to read The Honey Witch – and it did not disappoint. The imagery was beautiful and conjured up long summer lazy summer days, bees buzzing around the garden, fireflies at night. It had a very cool magic system I thought, of a honey witch and an ash witch, a yin and a yang, balance. But the balance was out of order in this book, and Marigold had to find her place as the new honey witch and overturn the curse .. and that is all I will say!

This book:

🐝 Cozy Fantasy
🐝 Enemies to Lovers
🐝 Sapphic
🐝 Slow Burn Romance
🐝 Cool Magical System

For the spice level, which is sapphic, I would give it the same as Temple of Swoon – 3.5 jalapenos. Explicit open door but it is fairly short as well as near the end.

Thanks for reading! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Take Place in Another Time

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized51 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This Week’s Prompt: Books Set in Another Time (These can be historical, futuristic, alternate universes, or even in a world where you’re not sure when it takes place you just know it’s not right now.)

I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to do this one! I decided to do a decade by decade book for each decade of the 1900s. The century that I was born in… lol. Most of these are books that I have read; a few are from my TBR.

A Reliable Wife (1909)|| Girl Waits With Gun (1914) || The Great Gatsby

A Reliable Wife was such a wild ride of a book! It is set in Wisconsin in 1909. All of Goolrick’s books blew me away when I read them.

Girl Waits with Gun is one on my TBR – and I am pretty sure I learned about it from TTT! It is set in 1914.

The Great Gatsby -because really, what better book to represent the Roaring 20s?

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek || City of Thieves || When Women Were Dragons

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is another TBR book. I had never heard of the Horseback Librarians until a few years ago when we went to a historical event at Greenfield Village near us and there was a woman dressed as one. She told Wyatt and I about these women and gave Wyatt a library card. It was really cute. Anyway, this book is set in 1936. I need to get to it.

City of Thieves is one of my favorite books ever. I recommend this book over and over and over again. It is is set in 1942 in Russia.

When Women Were Dragons is physically sitting on my shelf and I need to read it. Maybe I will this spring. It sounds amazing. It is set in 1955.

The Girls || Joyland || My Best Friend’s Exorcism

The Girls has been on my TBR for a long time. I really need to get to it eventually. It seems like a good summer book so maybe this summer. This book is set in the 1960s.

Joyland is another favorite of mine. I have found that my favorite books by Stephen King are sort of weird compared to other people lol. This is one of them. I just love the whole story- the new adultness, the summertime working at the amusement park, a haunting, a mystery, some supernatural things. It was fantastic. It is set in the 1970s.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism is such a creepy gross book! I loved it though. It is so 1980s that I had to list it here.

The Mall

I am a Gen Xer and yes, so much of my young adulthood centered around the mall. I haven’t read this but it is on my TBR. It sounds like a good read! (if you have read it let me know what you thought!)

And there is my list! I am super excited to see where everyone else is taking us today!

Sunday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up – Tulips on the Window, Bowling, and Scouts

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP20 Comments

Hello everyone!! It’s been a wild week around here! It is always crazy to me how we can go from doing absolutely nothing and then have a week that is nonstop. But that is what happened to us this past week. It’s all been good but lots of things were happening!

After our super slow weekend last week, with the big snow and being stuck inside, we hit the ground running on Monday. Wyatt and I had a jam packed day of school, followed by our Cub Scouts meeting at the library, which was awesome. The kids were learning 3-D printing, and Curtis, the librarian in charge of this event, did a fantastic job setting things up for our scouts. He put a lot of thought and work into it! He even had some premade ideas in the program that the kids could customize, like key chains and bookmarks and Cub scout related items. It was very cool. He also surprised Wyatt with a Cub Scout statue with a snail on it, because he remembered Wyatt loves snails. The kids (and the parents) all had a great time!

Then the rest of the week we had therapy and equipment deliveries for Wyatt, a basketball for his cousin – the first he has ever been to, bowling in his new special needs kids league, and I had our blogger Zoom crafternoon event! We are having so much fun with our crafternoons and hanging out that we are going to continue them instead of ending this month as we had originally planned.

Friday we had so much fun in art too. I love when I find an artist that just resonates with us, and Maud Lewis seems to be one of them. I love her whimsical style and bright colors and Wyatt likes them as well. I didn’t know much about her myself before this study, but I am loving her story. She was a Canadian artist, living in Nova Scotia. She lived her life with a disability, one that caused her a lot of pain, as well as affecting her hands and legs and stature. But that didn’t stop her from seeing the joy around her and spreading that to everyone else. One of the videos we watched described her life as “the power of creativity and resilience” and I loved that. We read the book A Tulip in Winter together, and then Wyatt’s art project for the day was to recreate the Maud’s windows! She had brightly colored tulips painted in the windows of her small house, so Wyatt and I used window markers and did the same to our front window. We are both so happy with how it turned out, and every time I see them, it makes me smile. They are hard to see in this photo with how the sun was shining (yes the sun was shining!!) but they are so joyful, and reminds us that spring is on the way.

I spotted this online during my research for this art study, which will continue into March, and I think I need it.

I also learned something new this week! I learned that Japan has stationery awards! How did I not know this before? I have always loved pens and markers and stickers and paper and notebooks. I worked in an office supply store that sold fine pens and stationery and all that good stuff and it was like a dream. I own so many really nice pens from my time spent working there. And honestly, they just aren’t available like they used to be, it seems like. There are so many cool things! I love this little pouch for all of your writing materials!

Billy and I have been watching one of my favorite shows this week, The Great British Pottery Throw Down. This group seems to be very talented, and now I am really inspired to make some cool things with my MIL this spring or fall. She is going to teach me as she is a potter with her own kiln, and I of course have all these big ideas. LOL. I’ll be happy though even if I can only make something very basic. We also started the Gabby Petito documentary as well, and we only have one part left. I find myself getting so very angry while watching it.

Later today we have a family get together to celebrate both Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. It will be fun to hang out for a bit with everyone.

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile.

Talk to you later my friends!

Down the Rabbit Hole: How My Crafternoons Led to a New TBR

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized20 Comments

I have always enjoyed my projects. However, I usually enjoy them, alone. My friends are super awesome and I love them to pieces, but they are not makers. It’s not their thing. And that is ok. So usually I do all my sewing and creating of anything by myself. However, recently Lisa from Boondocks Ramblings and I started up a winter Crafternoons thing over Zoom, with a few other bloggers, and it has been awesome. I have so much enjoyed sewing while chatting, and the other women are doing their crafty project or chatting and it has just been the most fun. It has also been really cool getting to know these bloggers on a whole different level – and to hear their voices!

I started thinking about how throughout time and the ages, women gathered together for different reasons, and while we do these things as fun crafts, their intentions were more practical. Despite that, these sewing circles, quilting bees, knitting circles, they all provided community for these women. And my curiosity was piqued by this, so I started reading that they provided even more, including a voice for change, for belonging and identity, cultural traditions. And it made me want to learn and know more. And I have found quite a few books that look amazing. This is a new reading and learning project for me – it will probably take a while to do, as I am a very slow reader of nonfiction.

This topic has always been in the back of my mind. And the book that sparked the spark? Oddly, a cozy mystery by Barbara Michaels, called Stitches in Time. There is a comment in there, about women and quilting and sewing, and in it, they mention that women stitch themselves into their work. Women sew and knit and sometimes, they are sitting around their child’s crib, while their babies sleep. Sometimes they do it while waiting on news, while someone is in the hospital, or a loved one is away at war, and this emotion gets stitched into their work. That is sort of magical thinking, but on some level, it has to be true. There would be no actual emotion stuck to it, but that woman would always think about the time she stitched it, whenever she used it. I also think about what the women would have talked about- it may have been one of the only places they were free to just be, at one point in time. I just have lots of thoughts, and none of them organized, and I am really excited to start this little reading passion project of mine, this rabbit hole of women and handicrafts and community.

I have requested one of these books already from the library, and I am waiting for it to get here. In the meantime, I wanted to share the list of books I have found with you!

That all being said, these are the books I found. I have no idea if they are good, bad, boring, well researched- I don’t know. I guess I will find out! Some of them aren’t quite on the mark but close enough and sounded interesting as well!

Threads of Life || This Long Thread || The Subversive Stitch

Red Paint || A Very Social Time || Craft Communities

This Golden Fleece |Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales| No Idle Hands

I would love to hear your thoughts on this! I am also interested in hearing any suggestions you might have to add, even if it is podcasts, movies, etc. Oh! That just reminded me of a movie! How to Make an American Quilt!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Never Reviewed

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized37 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s prompt is all books I read but never reviewed – and whether I liked them. Unfortunately, this one is easy for me. I was very bad about reviewing last year! My goal is to do mini-reviews this year after I read 3 or 4 books and I have been doing pretty well. Granted it is still only February but I am determined!

The Teller of Small Fortunes: I LOVED it!

A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic: Also, loved it

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell: Yes, I liked it!

A Psalm for the Wild Built: Loved it and have recommended it personally to friends but never reviewed it

The Easy Life in Kamusari: It was pretty good.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop: Also one I enjoyed.

The Full Moon Coffee Shop: I didn’t care for it too much honestly

Sisters of the Lost Nation: Loved it!!

The Vanishing of Aveline Jones: Loved it. I love this whole series!

To Fetch a Felon: I adored this book and of course, the little corgi as well! I still want a corgi darn it. And, I want to read more in this series!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized38 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

It’s a winter wonderland here today! We are covered in snow out there. We spent yesterday hurkle-durkling all day long, just staying inside and being pretty lazy. I did a bunch of lesson planning, though, so I did get some work done. I am excited about some of the new studies Wyatt and I are about to embark upon.

Today is another winter storm warning day, with heavy snow predicted so it will be another stay at home kind of day. They cancelled church, and the Pastor is giving her sermon from her home over Zoom. They cancelled Wyatt’s first bowling day as well – I will have to wait another week to see my little “Thunder Turkey” bowl with his team!

I had a big week last week, but I still managed to read two books, although one was a YA graphic novel so it took like 30 minutes. Lol.

Read Last Week:

The Sad Ghost Club was such a sweet read. It is about feeling alone, like you don’t belong anywhere or with anyone, anxiety, overthinking – and then finding someone, maybe just maybe, you can hang out with. I plan on reading the rest of this series as well. I just really enjoyed it.

Temple of Swoon is super adorable and swoonworthy. It is mostly closed door (is that a thing?) and Rafa and Miri are just so cute. It was was just a really fun read.

I hope to have a few more reviews up this week of books, including these two.

Reading This Week:

This week is cold and snowy but spring is right around the corner (maybe) and I am going to read this book and think about the colors of spring and summer. And fresh honey. I don’t think you guys know this about me, but I am obsessed with honey. I love it. Just call me Winnie!

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Love Quotes!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Mini Book Reviews: A Death in Door County, Under Loch and Key, The Healing Season of Pottery

Watching:

Billy has a cold and so we haven’t wanted to watch anything we have to think too much about, so we started watching Return to Paradise, which is another Death in Paradise spin-off. It was perfect for the week we had last week. Hopefully Billy perks up soon! He is actually doing not too bad, just a little low energy and coughing which is basically the type of ick that has been going around here lately.

We did veg out yesterday and we all watched Jurassic Park as a family. It was the first movie Billy and I ever saw together, all those years ago in 1993. The theater we saw it in isn’t even around anymore!

And that is it from my corner of the world today. Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile! I think I might try to make a snowman with Wyatt this afternoon, and then follow it up with hot chocolate.

Mini Book Reviews: A Death in Door County, Under Loch and Key, The Healing Season of Pottery

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading16 Comments

It’s time for another round up of mini-reviews!

Let’s start with A Death in Door County.

A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan: A Death in Door County is about a whole different lake and set of waters than I usually see here on my side of Michigan, this one on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, and Morgan, a cryptozoologist has been hired to find out if there is something lurking beneath the waters after a few tourists end up dead. It was an interesting read, full of fun trivia about folklore, a bookstore with some other interesting items for sale, and some eccentric characters – and of course, good dog Newt. For the first in a series it was pretty interesting, and I enjoyed it.

This book has:

🌲 Small towns
🌲 Independent heroines
🌲 Loch Ness vibes
🌲 Good dogs

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson: So, I figured I might as well just jump right in to another Loch Ness book. I do enjoy cryptid lore and tales and the Loch Ness is one of my favorites – thank you Scooby Doo for forming a lifelong interest. (does anyone else remember that episode?) Anyone, back to this book. This story is very cute in itself. Key travels to Scotland to connect with her grandparents, whom she has never met, after her father passes away. She meets the annoying, handsome Lachlan, who works for her grandparents. He is a grump, and not only that, but a grump with some pretty big secrets. So, like I said, that whole storyline is interesting and their interactions are funny. Key is a plain speaker, and I like that. She is open and just says what she is thinking and feeling rather than being sulky or playing games. I like her burgeoning relationship with her grandparents, especially her grandfather. I also liked the whole back story, mystery, magic, and family stuff.

Now, let us discuss the spice. I don’t read many romances, and this is definitely an open door book. I would put this at level way high spice, with graphic language as well. I ended up skipping those scenes as I read through the book. However, a YouTuber I watch, the Plant Based Bride, revealed that there is a scene (that she also skipped) that also has a bit of monster transformation spice situation too, so be aware that is in there as well. No judgement here, I guess just know it in case you like it or you don’t like it. I just wanted to put that in here.

This book has:

🌲 Open door
🌲 Family Mysteries and Secrets
🌲 Loch Ness vibes
🌲 Paranormal romance

The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin: “The reason our coffee tastes good, even when we make it with mediocre beans, is because of the cups.” I believe this, that using a piece that has been handmade with love and care lends a different feeling to what you are eating or drinking or enjoying. That feeling carries through each sip of coffee, each bite of cake eaten from a beautiful plate, echoes in a bowl filled with homemade soup. I may love pottery, btw. And I absolutely loved this book.

Jungmin has been in a cave of her own desire and making since quitting her broadcast writing job, barely setting foot outside for months. One day, dressed completely wrong for the weather, showing just how off balance Jungmin is, how out of season of her life, she stumbles into a pottery studio, thinking it is a cafe. This mistake changes her life. She finds herself enchanted by the pottery, the women who are there, and begins to take lessons. Slowly, slowly, carefully, Jungmin builds a new community for herself, friendships, literally rebuilds herself as she builds objects from clay. Clay has to be tested by fire in order to survive and become something beautiful or practical or useful, and Jungmin learns everyone has a story and fires that they have faced. This was a wonderful book full of found family and the rebuilding of a life.

Have you read any of these?